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I watched
the most incredibly lame movie last night on Netflix called “Rags” with a twist
on the Cinderella theme. This Canadian-made 2012 movie was filmed in Vancouver with New York as its setting. I couldn't help noticing that in the opening scene of NYC, they still showed the Twin Towers. You'd think they could at least use some modern footage. For a while I kept thinking the movie must have been made before 2001 until I saw them using modern Iphones and not those huge clunky portable phones of the 1990's. This movie was a stinker, no doubt about it. It was really bad; the script, the acting and the music, but I watched it anyhow.

Rags Like eating junk food, sometimes I’m in the mood for a
fluffy teen movie where I don’t have to think too much. At least it had no calories! The main
character Charlie reminded me of Justin Bieber with his boyish looks, his goofy
eagerness and singing style. GAG! *Makes a face* I’m not a Bieber fan, can you
tell? I had to rack my brain trying t…

Today a young reserve soldier, Cpl Nathan Cirillo, was shot and killed while guarding the War Memorial Monument in Ottawa, where I live. My heart goes out to his loved ones. I especially have a soft spot for reservists since I was once in the reserve myself. This kind of thing doesn't happen in Canada, a peace-loving nation where we can walk freely without fear. It is especially shocking to happen in Ottawa, a quiet government town. Even now, my husband's building is on lockdown and he doesn't know when he can leave. The gunmen are still wandering around and the whole downtown area is locked down. These kinds of things don't happen in our peaceful corner of the world. At least that's what I used to think. It just shows that it can happen anywhere at anytime. We are vulnerable and even more so in these scary times of extremist terrorists with a warped view of the world. But mostly, I can't help thinking about that innocent young soldier losing his life guarding the…

Talk, talk,
talk, we’re good at that Day in day
out, we like to chat, What a noisy
world where everyone is talking Some even
talk on the phone while walking, We talk and
talk without stopping to think We talk
about everything but the kitchen sink, But
listening is a more important skill. Just close
your mouth and keep it still, Do you
actively listen or wait to reply? Do you listen
patiently, do you even try? Because
conversation is a two way street Having
someone listen is mighty sweet, Having
someone listen can make your day Much more
than anything you can say, Talk is
cheap but listening is gold It’ll keep
you company when you get old, Instead of
your mouth, why not open each ear? You’ll be
amazed by everything you hear, Listening costs
nothing and is completely free Hey you out
there? Are you listening to me?

Today's topic for the weeklong writing festival at Write Tribe is to write about inequality for Blog Action Day.blogactionday.org

We think we’re
equal and all the same But how you
look is part of the game, If you’re slim, no one bothers you If you’re
overweight, that isn’t true You get
charged more for an airplane seat You get
judged for everything you eat, People make
a face and look away How dare you
come and wreck our day! How dare you
come and invade our space! You don’t
deserve to be in this place, Overweight
people are stupid and lazy Go away, you’re
driving us crazy,

Worse than the shunning are the comments and jeersTaunted and teased for years and years,They retreat and hide to protect from hurtThey're so used to being treated like dirt, Overweight
people are not treated the same Shunned and
despised, they live in shame, If you’d
listen, they have stories to tell They know that inequality is alive and well.

I am writing this inequality poem on the sixth day of the week-long Write Tribe …

For the fifth day of the Write Tribe Blogging challenge we are writing tip posts. I’m always
looking for ways to save money in these tight times where a dollar doesn’t buy
as much as it did before. I wouldn’t say I’m virtuous and perfect at it. Like
watching my weight, I sometimes slip up in a moment of weakness.

Still, being
frugal can become a way of life if you work at it and change your habits
gradually.

TO SAVE MONEY:Think before buying something. Impulse buys can be foolish. We’ve
all done it where we buy something on sale just because it’s such a great deal
and we never even use it. Do you really need the item or is it just
going to add to the clutter? Take time to consider a purchase instead of buying
it as soon as you see it. Often after thinking it through, you’ll decide you
really don’t need it after all. Don’t use the credit cards so much. It’s easy to lost track of expenses
with a credit card and that results in a rude shock when the bill arrives. At
those high interest rate…

(Image from The Graphics Fairy's site) Today's topic for the Write Tribe's week long blogging challenge is to make a list of favourite links to share. My main challenge for this is that I like so many sites, it's hard to pick only a few. I narrowed it down by deciding on ones that inspire me and help me with my creative projects.

Contrary to
popular belief, I don’t just spring out of bed all happy, confident and
positive. Some days I need lots of
coffee and inspiration to get going for the day. Every day I
like to look at posts from inspirational and writing sites. The inspirational
sites get me into a positive mindset for the day while the writing sites help
inspire me, overcome procrastination and give me ideas. Of course
there is always the danger, I’ll just surf and not get that writing done. There
are just too many interesting sites out there. Guess I’ll have to find a site
about not procrastinating. I’m sure there is one. I’ll have to Google it....later. Here are
s…

Day 3 of the blogging challenge at Write Tribe is to write a review so I have chose to write about Picaboo, an online photo book making company.http://writetribe.com/

If you’re
like me, you probably have loads of paper photos or digital photos taking up
space in boxes or on your computer’s hard drive. I decided to
take on the job of being the family archivist and love to create books to
capture the memories before they’re forgotten. For several years I have been
making books, both conventional paper scrapbooks and digital. I have tried
many of the different photo book companies over the years such as Heritage
Makers, Snapfish, Photobook Canada, MyPublisher, Blurb, Walmart and Picaboo. I would have
to say that my favourite is Picaboo, an American company.www.picaboo.com

Here is a photo book I made with Picaboo.com about my cat, Kobie.

The main
reason I like Picaboo is for the deals they offer, ease of use, quality of their books,
fast turnaround and fast mail delivery. Their
software is on…

Last night
we were at a birthday party for Gini who just turned 50. For a joke,
some friends had dressed a mannequin to look like her and called it Sarah,
after Sarah in the Bible. There is a
Norwegian legend that when a woman turns 50, she becomes a wise Sarah with experience,
wisdom and insight like the biblical Sarah.It’s true
that by the time we’ve reached 50, we’ve learned a lot about life and
ourselves. Of course, we still mess up and still get stuck in ways of being
that aren’t the best. With the
wisdom of experience, we’ve learned to forgive, let go, grow, move on and
appreciate what’s important. Today’s
blogging topic from Write Tribe’s blogging challenge is to ask a question. I
decided on this one.If you could
go back in time and tell a younger version of yourself one thing, what would
you tell?I would like
to give advice from Wise Sarah to my younger self.

Wise Sarah
says:Don’t worry
so much about doing it right. It’s okay to make mistakes. That’s how you learn
and grow. Eve…

Fear takes
hold inside my brain Barreling
along like a runaway train, Thoughts
swirl around inside my head Filling me
up with so much dread, Doom and
gloom weigh down on me The world is
ending, can’t you see? Heavy-hearted
and full of doubt How will I
ever find my way out? Often fear
can become so overwhelming that it’s debilitating and paralyzes us. I have fears
of failure and change which often stop me from trying something new just
because I’m convinced I’m going to fail. Here is a
good article I found that outlines some tips to overcoming fear by taking
action. http://tinybuddha.com/blog/5-tips-to-help-you-take-action-to-overcome-your-fear/ Small action
steps can help you move towards conquering your fear and gaining confidence. I know when I push myself through the fear and give it a try, I find it so empowering and I do gain confidence. What fears
hold you back from trying new things or doing something you want to do?

When was the
last time you wrote or received a letter in the regular mail? In this fast
paced distracted electronic age, we all prefer to text, email or Facebook to
stay in touch. Why not? It’s easy, fast and cheap. Writing a
letter on paper is more time consuming and you have to wait for the letter to
go through the mail. Who has time to wait for that? As much as I
love instant communication as my Facebook friends know, I do love writing and
receiving an actual letter. It’s such a treat and beats the heck out of junk
mail and bills. It’s a real
pleasure to be able to hold the letter in your hand and read it again and
again. Oh, I know you could probably do that with an Ipad or phone but it’s not
the same. There’s something so tactile feeling that smooth paper and seeing
that envelope addressed to you with a nice stamp, the letter handwritten or
typed on pretty stationary or a special card. When I was a
kid, I had lots of penpals around the world. It was such a thrill to write to
them abo…

I truly think this is a great practice to get into. Nothing cures pity parties and negative moods better than taking stock of everything you're grateful for.

Thanks, Laurel. I'm grateful for having you as a friend and fellow creative spirit to share with.

This week I am grateful for:

My bird feeders. Within seconds of putting up the feeders and filling them, my chickadee pals were back again and will be with me through the winter. It's a small little thing but I get such joy out of seeing birds on the feeder and even the annoying squirrel can be amusing to watch. I see he's discovered it, too and Kobie has discovered the squirrel so he finds it entertaining, too.Getting over my dumb cold. Nothing like being sick to make you grateful when you start to feel well again.Playing flute with my harpist friend …

Today is
World Smile Day, the first Friday of the month. Who knew? I sure didn't, but hey, any excuse to celebrate is fine with me.

My cat Kobie knew it was International Smile Day. Here is a photo of him smiling.

It’s also
Virus Appreciation Day and Techies Day. Just who decides these days anyhow? I
picture a bunch of zany people in a room drinking wine and eating goodies while
they dream up ideas for each day of the year. I can’t wait for Mouldy Cheese
day on October 9th. They must have been deep into the wine when they dreamed up that one. Hmm. *Looks in fridge* I’ve started celebrating
early for that day already. I’m not
kidding, it’s right here, a calendar of special days. http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/index.htm What a fun job
thinking up special days! Where do I apply? Actually there is a page here
explaining about how to create a day. http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/createaday.htm Sounds like a lot of fuss though. On
second thought, no thanks. Techies Day
isn’t…

Oh, how I love my coffee, it’s such a
treat It makes me tingle from my head to my
feet, Flavoured coffee just makes my day Hazelnut is a fave, what can I say? Percolator, Keurig, French Press, or
Drip? Or how about a Starbucks trip? Starbucks is my favourite spot I like to go there quite a lot, None of that Tim Horton’s Crap will do I’m a Starbucks lover through and
through, A tall bold hazelnut will do the trick I like to guzzle it down real quick, The Baristas know me, it’s my favourite
haunt Before I even order, they know what I
want, I sit there and write my latest tale Sipping my coffee and checking e-mail, Won’t you join me at Starbucks for a cup
or two? I’ll be saving a table just for you!

I love being creative and expressing myself through writing, art, music or drama.

Writing is my ultimate passion and escape from the mundane daily life of housework and other repetitive duties that can sap the life out of me.

I am an introvert so email and chat are the perfect medium for me. I don't like the phone and avoid it when I can.

I live in a small farming village outside Canada's capitol of Ottawa with my husband and two young adult sons.

I belong to a women's choir where I sing Alto 2 and play flute. I also enjoy scrapbooking and preserving our memories instead of letting the photos sit on the computer where no one sees them. I am trying to combine my two talents of cake decorating and photo book making to help people celebrate their events. My biz website is www.catgrahamcreates.com

I adore cats and have a well photographed mischievous orange Tabby named Kobie and a sweet calico named Daisy. I'd love to have more. We also have red Siberian husky and a Malamute. I must admit that I am a crazy cat lady and prefer cats but dogs are great, too. I even have a Facebook account for our zany Malamute, Loup.

I enjoy Facebook and the Internet far too much. Gotta get that writing done!